The Heart of Darkness
by Indigo Fire
Summary: My version of how Clark and Lex end their friendship.


The Heart of Darkness  
  
By: The Indigo Fire  
  
Disclaimer: They're not mine, please don't take all my money from me.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The mansion had been eerily quiet as Lex Luthor made his way through the empty halls of the building that had once served as his home. The walls were bare and the furniture had been covered by white cloth sheets as moving men began to package them away on large trucks. He walked through the room which had once served as his billiard room now an empty shell. Colored light danced on the oak floors as light was captured and refracted through the stain glass windows, leaning heavily on the window sill he let out a long drawn out sigh.  
  
"I thought I'd find you in here," the voice had startled Lex. Turning around he saw the young man standing in the doorway, his hands balled into tight fists, his jaw set and a firm glare in his blue eyes. The look in his eyes had chilled Lex to the core; it surprised Lex that he was on the receiving end of such a look.  
  
"Clark, I was wondering when you'd show up." He turned back to the window, his attention focused on neither here nor there. In his minds eye he flashed back to when he first met Clark, he remembered seeing the same look in his eye then, pure drive and determination. Clark had been the one to bring Lex back from the Abyss, the void that was not life nor was it death. In Clark he saw a bit of himself, someone struggling to find out what he was determined to make his place in the cosmic scheme of things.  
  
"What no goodbye, no speech about destiny or some other crap like that? Was I not good enough to deserve a decent face-to-face good bye?" He held up a letter in his left hand, a piece of crate paper which had been folded into thirds and sealed with Lex's personal monogram.  
  
"Quite the contrary Clark, I knew that you'd eventually show up here, it was just a matter of time. It's funny really, before I came to Smallville I was never really a patient man but when you rescued me something changed in me. You see, being born with the name Luthor left me with a certain destiny to fulfill, eventually I would end up like my father." He paused for a moment as he turned to face Clark, his eyes glancing about the room as if her were seeing it the way it was.  
  
"I spent much of my adolescent years trying to run from the inevitable, I was my father's son there was nothing I could do to change that. From an early age he had me read books like 'The Prince,' and 'The Art of War.' He wasn't raising a son so much as he was molding a successor, something he could shape and to take his place and run the family company the way he would. I would like to think that he failed in his venture, but now since his apparent suicide, I see that he had succeeded."  
  
Clark continued to glare at Lex, the intensity in his eyes never leaving for the briefest of moments. "What are you getting at Lex?" He forced his hands to unfurl, undoing the buttons on his collar and loosening the tie around his neck. "You're not making any sense."  
  
"What I'm getting at is that every time I see you I see a man of steel, someone with a will of iron that can't be broken. Someone who keeps a part of himself locked away in the deepest recesses of his soul. In a sense I see a part of myself in you Clark, someone with a scarred past that you try to keep hidden away."  
  
"We all have secrets Lex, you of all people should know that." His tone had a subdued defiance to it, a warning for Lex not to prod any further.  
  
"What's wrong Clark, why are you suddenly so defensive? It's not like we haven't been down this path before. Our friendship has been rocky at times but we've endured it, but I'm placing all my cards on the table right now. I'm giving you an offer, something that I want you to consider carefully."  
  
The quiet room was filled with tension as a pause lingered between the two of them. Over the last few years the friendship between the two had broken down to almost non-existent. Clark had found himself bending over backwards at times to see the good side of Lex, afterwards most of those times Clark was left was it really worth it.  
  
"I'm not being defensive Lex, I'm just tired of it all. I'm tired of this proverbial chess game that we've been playing over the last three years. I just want the truth.what do you want."  
  
"I want you to come to Metropolis with me, I want you to join me in running LexCorp. Together we'll be partners, together we could be conquerors. It's an all or nothing deal here Clark, what do you say?" He extended his hand to Clark and friendly smile on his face.  
  
Clark slowly swallowed, the bitter taste of bile making his mouth go sour. He looked at the outstretched hand, ten thousand thoughts racing through his mind. The words of his father ringing clearly in his ear, "You are responsible for your own destiny, Clark. The path of right and wrong is a journey, you have to know where that path will lead you."  
  
He had said those words to him many times and in many different ways, but it wasn't until now that Clark fully grasped the true meaning. He felt stronger, a different type of strength from that of his powers, he could feel it coursing beneath him. "No Lex, I can't do it. If I left, I'd be throwing everything I ever cared for away. I know you have no hesitation in packing up and moving on, but I can't do that. All that I have ever loved is here; I won't leave that until I'm ready. Goodbye Lex."  
  
He turned and slowly made his way to the hallway door, his steps filled with more assurance than ever before. He didn't look back as he drove away from the castle, doubtful that he'd ever see Lex again. Yet, he was fine with that, it bothered him less than he thought.  
  
From the stain glass window Lex could see the tail lights of the pick-up truck as it made it's down the driveway and on to the main road. A slight smile came to Lex's face, it was a set back but a minor one. "That's okay Clark, if there's anything I've ever been it's a patient man. There'll be a time."  
  
Fin  
  
A/N: Some feedback would be greatly appreciated. 


End file.
